Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Weekend Summary

The following are some of this week's reports from the MEMRI Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM) Project, which translates and analyzes content from sources monitored around the clock, among them the most important jihadi websites and blogs. (To view these reports in full, you must be a paying member of the JTTM; for membership information, send an email to [email protected] with "Membership" in the subject line.)

Note to media and government: For a full copy of these reports, send an email with the title of the report in the subject line to [email protected]. Please include your name, title, and organization in your email.

In the November 3, 2017 issue of its weekly news bulletin Al-Naba', the Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for the October 31, 2017 truck ramming in lower Manhattan. Titled "Attack by a Soldier of the Caliphate in Central Manhattan in America that Resulted in the Killing and Wounding of Over 20 Crusaders," the announcement states that the attack came in response to the calls to target citizens of the countries that take part in the coalition fighting the Islamic State.

On November 2, 2017, a media foundation affiliated with the Islamic State (ISIS) published an article in which the author called on Muslims to question the authenticity of files recovered during the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

On November 1, 2017, the Lebanese daily Al-Akhbar, which is close to Hizbullah, published a commentary piece about expected developments in Iraq following the end of the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS). It stated that elements in the resistance camp in Iraq – that is, the Iran-supported militias – are planning a confrontation with U.S. forces in the country.

On October 31, 2017, an Uzbek national named Sayfullo Saipov killed eight people with a rented truck in Lower Manhattan and injured at least 11 others. It has been reported that Saipov left notes indicating loyalty to the Islamic State (ISIS) near the truck. A Facebook user who also resides in New York City expressed his joy over the attack and noted that he was near the scene of the attack.

Several pro-ISIS Telegram channels, including the Al-Wafa media group, have reposted an article from November 2016 titled "A Word regarding the Law on Soccer Games" on whether playing soccer is permitted according to the shari'a and whether soccer players and referees are considered apostates.

Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS), the Pakistan-based branch of Al-Qaeda, has released a video explaining that the Burmese army and the majority Buddhists have engaged in the persecution of Rohingya Muslims ever since Burma, now called Myanmar, became independent.

The editorial of the October 26, 2017 issue of Al-Naba', the weekly news bulletin of the Islamic State (ISIS), reviews the history of the Islamic State from its founding until the present time. The editorial states that, because it considers the Islamic State defeated, the international coalition is now beginning to quarrel, and will eventually crumble – whereas the Islamic State remains strong and will eventually triumph.

On November 1, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Ministry of Information in the province of Khorasan (Pakistan-Afghanistan) claimed responsibility for the suicide attack carried out in the Kabul, Afghanistan Diplomatic Quarter on October 31, 2017.

On November 1, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Khurassan province (Afghanistan) released a series of photographs documenting a religious instruction class for boys – "The Lion Cubs –Ashbal" – the organization's next generation, in the Gurgury-Nangarhar area.

On November 1, 2017, the Islamic State (ISIS) Ministry of Information in the Damascus province in Syria posted an eight-minute video entitled "The Path of Valor." The clip shows the organization's snipers in Damascus skillfully picking off Syrian Army soldiers in different parts of the city.

A photo report released October 30, 2017 by ISIS in Khorasan (Afghanistan-Pakistan) documents an attack on the Taliban headquarters in the Wazir Tanki village near Khogyani in Afghanistan's Nangarhar Province. The following are some of the photos.

On October 26, 2017 the Chief of Staff of the French Army reported that French forces had attacked a position of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) in northern Mali, resulting in the death of 15 terrorists.

On October 25, 2017, the Uyghur jihad group Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) released a video message on its Telegram channel. The video was initially uploaded to Google Drive, which is the platform TIP usually uses for file hosting.

Sheikh Aqeelur Rehman, deputy emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami for the Pakistani-controlled Azad ("Free") Kashmir, has condemned India for the arrests of the relatives of jihadi commander Syed Salahuddin, according to the Urdu daily Roznama Siasat.

Speaking at an event in Muscat, the capital of Oman, Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry, the former prime minister of Pakistan-controlled Azad ("Free") Kashmir, has called for breaking the Line of Control (LoC) that divides Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

Given below is a statement issued by the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (the Pakistan-backed Taliban organization) regarding the health of an American teacher in Taliban captivity. The original English of the statement has been lightly edited for standardization and clarity: "It has been over a year since two teachers of the supposed American University in Kabul have been imprisoned by the mujahideen of [the] Islamic Emirate. Among the two, the American teacher (Kevin King) has a dangerous heart and kidney disease."

On October 30, 2017, users who joined the email subscription service of the Islamic State's (ISIS) A'maq news agency received an email notifying them that the A'maq website had been hacked. The email was sent by the hacker, who appears to have compromised A'maq's website and managed to send the email to all of its subscribers.